Apparatus for comminuting articles

ABSTRACT

A comminuter for reducing articles to small particles which has an upright housing with vertically spaced intake and discharge openings. Rotatable cutting blades have a vertically downwardly extending housing floor scraper with off-set scraper teeth on at least a pair of blades and upwardly extending splitting wedges. The blades are rotatably mounted within the housing and actuated by a hydraulic motor. A hydraulic pump powered by an internal combustion engine or the like is coupled with the hydraulic motor via a valve that permits the reversal of the direction of rotation of the motor and cessation of its rotation.

United States Patent Lundin et al.

14 1 Oct. 10,1972

[54] APPARATUS FOR COMMINUTING ARTICLES [72] Inventors: Andrew P.Lundin, 323 Covington Road; John D. Milner, 11945 Country Club Drive,both of Los Altos, Calif. 94022 221 Filed: May 3,1971

21 Appl.No.: 139,488

521 u.s.c1. ..241/101 M, 241/32, 241/188 R, 241/195 511 Int. Cl. ..B02c21/02 [58] Field of Search....24l/32, 101 M, 186 R, 188 R, 241/189 A,195, 251 R, 277

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,677,223 5/1954 Schwarz..241/101 M X 2,803,410 8/1957 Bodoni, Jr. ..24l/l95 X 2,825,377 3/1958Ostrowski ..241/l01 M X 3,412,770 11/1968 Johnson ..24l/l0l M X3,593,930 7/1971 Lautzenheiser ..24l/ 188 R Primary Examiner-GranvilleY. Custer, Jr. Attorney-Townsend and Townsend [57] ABSTRACT Acomrninuter for reducing articles to small particles which has anupright housing with vertically spaced intake and discharge openings.Rotatable cutting blades have a vertically downwardly extending housingfloor scraper with off-set scraper teeth on at least a pair of bladesand upwardly extending splitting wedges. The blades are rotatablymounted within the housing and actuated by a hydraulic motor. Ahydraulic pump powered by an internal combustion engine or the like iscoupled with the hydraulic motor via a valve that permits the reversalof the direction of rotation of the motor and cessation of its rotation.

15 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED E 10 i973 SHEET 2 [IF 2 FIG 3INVENTOR. ANDREW I? LUNDIN BY JOHN D. MILNER FIG' 4 WMT ATTORNEYSAPPARATUS FOR COMMINUTING ARTICLES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Toprevent the pollution of the environment through discharge of large andtherefore slowly decomposing organic matter such as shrubbery, treelimbs and the like, comminuters or disintegrators are increasinglyemployed. The comminuters reduce the size of the matter to smallparticles which, when placed in the open atmosphere or under ground,decomposes readily without polluting and disfiguring the surroundings.

The comminuters require substantial power for their operation which isnormally supplied by an internal combustion: engine. Such engines arereadily available and render the unit self-contained and mobile. Bytheir nature, the comminuters are massive, have heavy cutting bladesthat rotate at high speeds, and are hazardous unless the comminutingchambers within which the blades rotate are securely shielded andenclosed.

From time to time oversized articles placed into the chamber, or a toorapid filling thereof, can jam the blades. To make the comminuteroperable again, the chamber must be opened and the jamming article mustbe removed. This is time consuming and a potential safety hazard sincefailure to close the chamber before restarting the engine can seriouslyor fatally injure the operator. Prior art comminuters of the type underconsideration herein require that the jamming articles be manuallyremoved from the chamber, or at least from between the blades, beforethe apparatus can be restarted. Thus, they exhibit all the abovereferred to safety hazards.

Relative inefficiencies in the comminution of articles by prior artdevices increases the frequency with which the machines become jammedand require the relatively frequent opening of the disintegratingchamber. For example, the introduction of large articles say relativelylarge diameter limbs, often taxes the cutting blades beyond theircapacity and can stall them. Furthermore, in devices which employcutting blades disposed just above a flat floor plate and havingdownwardly and rearwardly extending scrapers to move debris on-the floorplate towards a discharge opening in the plate can under certaincircumstances, when the debris com prises wet substances, pack suchsubstances against the floor plate instead of scraping them therefrom.This results in a debris buildup which exerts an axial force to therotating blades, causes substantial friction losses, and can permanentlydeform and damage the blades. To rectify the situation, the machine mustagain be opened for cleaning, thereby again representing a safetyhazard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a comminuterwith a reversible drive that permits a reversal of the direction ofrotation of its cutting blades. In most instances of jamming of theblades a reversal of the direction of their rotation, that is a reversalof the force applied to the blades, is sufficient to loosen the bladesso that thereafter they can continue to operate without the need formanually removing the jamming article. In addition thereto, thefrequency of machine jamming caused by articles too large to be readilydisintegrated by the blades is substantially reduced through the thefloor plate is prevented by providing vertically v downwardly extendingscrapers. The efficiency of the scrapers is enhanced by offsetting theteeth on the scrapers on different blades with respect to the axis ofrotation of the blades to prevent all teeth from moving along identicalgrooves.

Broadly speaking, a comminuting apparatus constructed in accordance withthe invention comprises a frame and an upright hollow body defining anintake opening at the upper end, a discharge opening at the lower end,and having floor means extending at least partially across a lower endof the body. Rotatably mounted cutting blades are disposed above thefloor means for contacting and comminuting the articles. A motor ismounted to the frame and drives the cutting blades via drive means thatincludes means for reversing the rotation of the blades and for stallingtheir rotation independently of the motor means.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the drive means comprises ahydraulic drive having a hydraulic pump actuated by an internalcombustion engine or the like mounted to the support frame and ahydraulic motor coupled to a shaft of the blades via V- belts or thelike. Valve means is interposed between the pump and the motor andpermits a reversal of the fluid flow through the motor for reversing thedirection of rotation of the blades and the interruption of the fluidflow independently of the operation of the internal combustion engineand the pump to halt the blade rotation.

A comminuting apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention isself-contained, readily and relatively inexpensive to construct andseldom, if ever, jams to such an extent that reversal of the directionof rotation of the blades would not remove the cause for jamming. Thefrequency with which the chamber must be entered for the removal ofjammed articles or of a debris-cake built up upon the bottom plate istherefore greatly reduced, thus reducing the chances of injury to theoperator.

In addition to the substantially safer operation of the comminutingapparatus, the present invention provides a relatively inexpensive drivethat insulates the power source, i.e., the internal combustion engine,from at least partial shock loads due to blade jamming and the like. Thedrive mechanism coupling the blades with the internal combustion engineis virtually fool-proof so that its operation even by inexperiencedpersonnel will not lead to costly damage of the drive. Furthermore, thedrive is subject to little wear and requires little or no maintenance orrepair to substantially enhance its economic attractiveness of thecomminuter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of acomminuting apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the reversible hydraulic drive for thecomminuting apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view, in section, andillustrates interior portions of the comminuting apparatus;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view, in section, of the interior of thecomminuting apparatus; and

FIG. 5 is a bottom end view of rotatable blades including verticallydownwardly extending scraper blades having offset teeth constructed inaccordance with the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIG. 1, acomminuting apparatus 8 comprises a frame 10 including means mounting awheel 12 for movement of the apparatus over ground 14, a handle 16 andsupport legs 18 which maintain the apparatus in an upright position. Ahollow body 20 including an intake chute 22 on its upper end and adischarge opening 24 in a floor plate 32 is mounted to the frame.Comminuting means 26 are disposed interiorally of the body 20 in acomminuting chamber 38 and are driven via V-belts 28 by drive means 29actuated by an internal combustion engine 30 or the like.

Intake chute 22 comprises a neck portion 34 that terminates in anoutwardly extending top funnel 36 raised substantially above ground 14and having a relatively large diameter of several feet. Articles to becomminuted are thrown into the funnel and are automatically guided intoneck 34 and hence into comminuting chamber 38. However, the highpositioning of the top edge of the funnel and its relatively largediameter of several feet prevents the operator from extending his handdownwardly into neck 34 or the comminuting chamber where flyingparticles and/or the comminuting means can seriously injure him.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, comminuting means 26 disposed in chamber38 comprises a stationary blade set 40 secured to body 20 and arotatable blade set 42 having at least one pair of oppositely disposedrotating blades 42a and 42b mounted to a drive shaft 44. The rotatableblade set includes opposing blades 42a and 42b positioned abovestationary blade set 40 and blades 43 disposed between the stationaryblade set and floor plate 32. The rotating blades are secured to a shaft44 that extends downwardly through the floor plate and is rotatablymounted in a bearing 46 on the underside of the floor plate. A lowerfree end of the shaft mounts a conventional V-belt sheave 48.

In use, articles entering the comminuting chamber through intake chute22 are grasped by the rotating blades, driven against the stationaryblades and thereby disintegrated. To aid the disintegration process aplurality of splitting wedges 50 are secured to at least a pair ofopposing blades, namely upper blades 42a and 42b and equally distributedfrom adjacent shaft 44 to adjacent an outer end of the blades at uniformintervals. The wedges terminate in chisel ends 52 that define theleading edges of the wedges, face in the direction of rotation of theblades and are set back from the leading edge of the blades. Theremainder of the wedge tapers outwardly and rearwardly to a back side54. The wedges are firmly secured, e.g., welded to an upper side 56 ofthe blades.

For splitting or cracking tree limbs as frequently encountered in fruitorchards, excellent results have been obtained with wedges that have atotal height of no more than about one inch, a total length from chiselend 52 to back side 54 of no more than about 2.25 inches and a maximumwidth (at the back side) of no more than about 0.75 inches. The leadingedges of the wedges were set back from the leading edges of the corresponding rotatable blades by at least about /4 to 1% inch. The spacingbetween the wedges was about 1% inches. In use, the insertion ofrelatively large wooden limbs did not jam the rotating blades since thesplitting wedges first split or cracked the limbs before theirdisintegration.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 5, scraper plates 58 are secured tounderside 60 of at least some, i.e., the lower pair of opposingrotatable blades 43. The scraper plates depend vertically downward fromblades 43, and have a sufficient length so that teeth 62 of the platesare just slightly above floor plate 32 when installed in chamber 38.Plates 58 are further offset with respect to the axis of rotation byone-half the pitch between teeth 62 so that the circles prescribed bythe rotating teeth of one plate are aligned with the circles prescribedby rotating troughs 64 of the other plate. In this manner floor plate 32is more thoroughly cleaned of debris and the formation of relativelydeep grooves in the debris on the floor plate is prevented.

In operation, the downwardly extending scraper plates continuously sweepover floor plate 32 and prevent the accumulation of disintegrateddebris. The plates move the debris over discharge opening 24 for removalfrom comminuting chamber 38. The vertical orientation of the plates withrespect to cutting blades 43 assures a scraping action of the plateseven if the debris is wet or forms a plastic substance so that thebuildup of a wet debris-cake on the floor plate, resulting frictionlosses and possible damage to the rotatable blades are prevented.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, drive mechanism 29 preferably comprises ahydraulic drive system 66 that derives its power from internalcombustion engine 30. The hydraulic drive is defined by a pump 68coupled to engine 30 and hydraulically connected via a four-way valve 70to a hydraulic motor 72. The hydraulic motor is suitably mounted to amounting bracket 74 which depends downwardly from support structure 10.A V-belt sheave 76 cooperates with sheave 48 and drives the latter viaV-belts 28.

Valve 70 is a four-way valve with a neutral position (when the controlmember 78 is 45 from the position shown in FIG. 2) in which the fluidcircuit between pump 68 and motor 72 is interrupted so that the motor,and therewith blade 42, cease to rotate even though engine 30 and pump68 continue in operation. The fourway valve includes a control member 78movable in a housing 80 and having passages 81, 82 which alternativelyconnect pressure line 84 from pump 68 with one of the hydraulic lines 86or 88 to the motor. The other passage in member 78 fluidly connects theother one of the hydraulic motor lines with a return line 90 forrecirculation of hydraulic fluid past a filter 92 into a tank orreservoir 94. A suction line 96 of pump 68 withdraws the hydraulic fluidfrom the reservoir.

Pump 68 and valve 70 are suitably mounted to support structure 10 withmounting posts and/or brackets and the valve includes an actuator suchas handle 98 for placing it in its different operating modes.Conventional high pressure hoses 100 are connected to the ports of thepump, the valve and the hydraulic motor to define the hydraulic linesschematically illustrated in FIG. 2.

In use, internal combustion engine 30 is started and valve 70 ismaintained in its neutral position until the comminuting operation is tobegin. Thereafter, handle 98 is operated to actuate hydraulic motor forrotation in its normal direction. Should rotatable blades 42 becomejammed, handle 98 of valve 70 is operated to reverse the direction ofrotation of the hydraulic motor and to thus unjam the blade.

Although it is presently believed that best results are obtained whenemploying a hydraulic drive for transmitting the power from engine 30 torotatable blades 42, other drives which at least pemiit reversal of thedirection of rotation of the blades and which preferably include aneutral position, can of course be employed. Thus, the hydraulicdrivecan be replaced with suitable gear trains, alone or in combinationwith clutches, and like drives should that be more desirable.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for disintegrating articles such as limbs comprising ahousing mounted to a support structure and having a substantiallyinaccessible interior, a stationary blade set disposed in the interior,a rotatable blade set in the interior and axially spaced from thestationary set, a hydraulic motor mounted to the support structure forrotating the rotatable set, a source of a pressurized hydraulic fluidconnected with the hydraulic motor, and means operatively disposedbetween the source and the motor for regulating the hydraulic fluid flowand thereby the hydraulic motor for controlling and changing therotation of the rotatable set.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the regulating means includesmeans for interrupting the fluid flow between the source and the motorfor the de-activation of the motor independently of the source.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the regulating means includesmeans for reversing the fluid flow through the motor to thereby reversethe direction of rotation of the rotatable set and facilitate thedislodging of objects within the housing without opening the housmg.

4. Apparatus for comminuting waste products into relatively fineparticles comprising:

a frame; an upright hollow body defining an intake opening at the upperend, a discharge opening at the lower end, and floor means extending atleast partially across a lower end of the body; rotatably mountedcutting blades disposed above the floor means for contacting andcomminuting the waste products; motor means mounted to the frame anddefining a power source for rotating the blades; and drive meansoperatively connecting the motor means with the blades and includingmeans for reversing the rotation of the blades independently of themotor means, and means for disengaging the connection between the motormeans and the blades to alternatively permit the blades to remainstationary or to rotate while the motor means is operating.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 including scraper means extendingdownwardly from at least a pair of blades for moving debris on the floormeans towards the discharge opening, the scraper means comprising platesdepending substantially perpendicularly downwardly from the blades.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein lower edges of the platesdefine scraper teeth, and wherein the teeth on one plate having aspacing from the axis of rotation of the blades which difiers from thespacing of the teeth on the other plate.

7. Apparatus according to claim 4 including disintegrating wedgesextending upwardly from at least a pair of blades, the wedges facing inthe direction of rotation of the blades and being spaced over the lengthof the blades from adjacent the axis of rotation to adjacent an outerend of the blades.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein leading edges of the wedgesare set back from leading edges of the blades.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the leading edges of thewedges are defined by chisel edges, and wherein the wedges have amaximum width transverse to their direction of movement of no more thanabout 0.75 inches.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the wedges have a height ofno more than about one inch and an overall length, in the direction oftheir movement, of no more than about 2.25 inches.

11. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the drive means comprises ahydraulic drive.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the means for reversing thedirection of rotation and the means for disengaging comprises valvemeans disposed between a hydraulic pump and a hydraulic motor of thehydraulic drive for selectively reversing the fluid flow through thehydraulic motor and for selectively bypassing the fluid flow from thepump past the hydraulic motor to thereby reverse the direction ofrotation of the blades and maintain them stationary, respectively, whilethe hydraulic pump continues to operate.

13. Apparatus for comminuting articles into small particles comprising:a frame, an upright housing mounted to the frame, cover means secured tothe housing, the cover means including an intake chute communicating thehousing interior with the exterior, the intake chute having a sufficientsize for receiving the articles and permitting their passage into thehousing while shielding the housing interior and preventing a personfrom accidentally reaching into the housing interior without firstremoving the cover, a floor member defining a lower end of the housingand in cluding a discharge opening positioned on one side of thehousing, a plurality of cutting blades rotatable about a substantiallyvertical axis, means mounting the blades within the housing, a pluralityof splitting wedges arranged over at least one of the blades fromadjacent the axis to an outer end of the blades, the wedges including aleading edge facing the direction of rotation of the blades set backfrom a leading edge of the blades and extending upwardly from the bladesso that articles approaching the blades are first contacted and split bythe wedges before their disintegration by the blade, and means forrotating the cutting blades so that the insertion of articles throughthe intake chute means causes the comminuting of the articles and theirdischarge through the discharge opening.

14. A self-contained comminuting apparatus for the disintegration ofarticles into small, readily disposable particles comprising: a supportstructure, a disintegration chamber having a raised intake chuteconstructed to prevent direct access to the chamber interior and therebyshield an operator from injuries through contacts with parts and objectsin the chamber while the apparatus is in operation, the chamber furtherincluding a discharge opening adjacent a lower end thereof,disintegrating blades rotatably mounted within the chamber forcontacting and disintegrating articles received from the chute means, aninternal combustion engine mounted to the structure for supplying thenecessary power to rotate the blades, a hydraulic pump operated by theengine, a hydraulic motor mounted for rotating the blades, hydrauliclines for fluidly connecting the pump and the motor and passingpressurized fluid through the motor, and valve means interposed in thelines for reversing the fluid flow through the motor without affectingthe operation of the pump, whereby the rotation of the blades can bereversed through operation of the valve means to clear objects jammingthe blades without opening the chamber.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14 including means for selectivelypreventing the flow of pressurized fluid through the motor so that theblades can remain stationary while the engine continues to operate.

1. Apparatus for disintegrating articles such as limbs comprising ahousing mounted to a support structure and having a substantiallyinaccessible interior, a stationary blade set disposed in the interior,a rotatable blade set in the interior and axially spaced from thestationary set, a hydraulic motor mounted to the support structure forrotating the rOtatable set, a source of a pressurized hydraulic fluidconnected with the hydraulic motor, and means operatively disposedbetween the source and the motor for regulating the hydraulic fluid flowand thereby the hydraulic motor for controlling and changing therotation of the rotatable set.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 whereinthe regulating means includes means for interrupting the fluid flowbetween the source and the motor for the de-activation of the motorindependently of the source.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 whereinthe regulating means includes means for reversing the fluid flow throughthe motor to thereby reverse the direction of rotation of the rotatableset and facilitate the dislodging of objects within the housing withoutopening the housing.
 4. Apparatus for comminuting waste products intorelatively fine particles comprising: a frame; an upright hollow bodydefining an intake opening at the upper end, a discharge opening at thelower end, and floor means extending at least partially across a lowerend of the body; rotatably mounted cutting blades disposed above thefloor means for contacting and comminuting the waste products; motormeans mounted to the frame and defining a power source for rotating theblades; and drive means operatively connecting the motor means with theblades and including means for reversing the rotation of the bladesindependently of the motor means, and means for disengaging theconnection between the motor means and the blades to alternativelypermit the blades to remain stationary or to rotate while the motormeans is operating.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4 including scrapermeans extending downwardly from at least a pair of blades for movingdebris on the floor means towards the discharge opening, the scrapermeans comprising plates depending substantially perpendicularlydownwardly from the blades.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 5 whereinlower edges of the plates define scraper teeth, and wherein the teeth onone plate having a spacing from the axis of rotation of the blades whichdiffers from the spacing of the teeth on the other plate.
 7. Apparatusaccording to claim 4 including disintegrating wedges extending upwardlyfrom at least a pair of blades, the wedges facing in the direction ofrotation of the blades and being spaced over the length of the bladesfrom adjacent the axis of rotation to adjacent an outer end of theblades.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein leading edges of thewedges are set back from leading edges of the blades.
 9. Apparatusaccording to claim 7 wherein the leading edges of the wedges are definedby chisel edges, and wherein the wedges have a maximum width transverseto their direction of movement of no more than about 0.75 inches. 10.Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the wedges have a height of nomore than about one inch and an overall length, in the direction oftheir movement, of no more than about 2.25 inches.
 11. Apparatusaccording to claim 4 wherein the drive means comprises a hydraulicdrive.
 12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the means forreversing the direction of rotation and the means for disengagingcomprises valve means disposed between a hydraulic pump and a hydraulicmotor of the hydraulic drive for selectively reversing the fluid flowthrough the hydraulic motor and for selectively bypassing the fluid flowfrom the pump past the hydraulic motor to thereby reverse the directionof rotation of the blades and maintain them stationary, respectively,while the hydraulic pump continues to operate.
 13. Apparatus forcomminuting articles into small particles comprising: a frame, anupright housing mounted to the frame, cover means secured to thehousing, the cover means including an intake chute communicating thehousing interior with the exterior, the intake chute having a sufficientsize for receiving the articles and permitting their passage into thehousing whilE shielding the housing interior and preventing a personfrom accidentally reaching into the housing interior without firstremoving the cover, a floor member defining a lower end of the housingand including a discharge opening positioned on one side of the housing,a plurality of cutting blades rotatable about a substantially verticalaxis, means mounting the blades within the housing, a plurality ofsplitting wedges arranged over at least one of the blades from adjacentthe axis to an outer end of the blades, the wedges including a leadingedge facing the direction of rotation of the blades set back from aleading edge of the blades and extending upwardly from the blades sothat articles approaching the blades are first contacted and split bythe wedges before their disintegration by the blade, and means forrotating the cutting blades so that the insertion of articles throughthe intake chute means causes the comminuting of the articles and theirdischarge through the discharge opening.
 14. A self-containedcomminuting apparatus for the disintegration of articles into small,readily disposable particles comprising: a support structure, adisintegration chamber having a raised intake chute constructed toprevent direct access to the chamber interior and thereby shield anoperator from injuries through contacts with parts and objects in thechamber while the apparatus is in operation, the chamber furtherincluding a discharge opening adjacent a lower end thereof,disintegrating blades rotatably mounted within the chamber forcontacting and disintegrating articles received from the chute means, aninternal combustion engine mounted to the structure for supplying thenecessary power to rotate the blades, a hydraulic pump operated by theengine, a hydraulic motor mounted for rotating the blades, hydrauliclines for fluidly connecting the pump and the motor and passingpressurized fluid through the motor, and valve means interposed in thelines for reversing the fluid flow through the motor without affectingthe operation of the pump, whereby the rotation of the blades can bereversed through operation of the valve means to clear objects jammingthe blades without opening the chamber.
 15. Apparatus according to claim14 including means for selectively preventing the flow of pressurizedfluid through the motor so that the blades can remain stationary whilethe engine continues to operate.